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< Atlanta DA admits to a relationship with Trump case prosecutor but defends her actions

Atlanta DA admits to a relationship with Trump case prosecutor but defends her actions

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MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The Atlanta attorney prosecuting Donald Trump and his allies is pushing back against claims of misconduct. Today Fulton County DA Fani Willis admitted to a relationship with a prosecutor on the case. She denies, though, violating any ethical standards or any laws. Well, helping us understand the latest is NPR's Stephen Fowler, who's in Atlanta. Hey, Stephen.

STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.

KELLY: OK, so I want to make sure that we just understand what these misconduct allegations against Fani Willis are. Lay them out.

FOWLER: So one of the co-defendants in this 2020 election interference case is Mike Roman. He's a former Trump campaign official. He filed a motion last month seeking to dismiss the charges against him and disqualify Willis from the case. This filing claimed that Willis hired Nathan Wade as an outside prosecutor on the case in 2021 and hired him as they were in a relationship. Wade's been paid hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for his work since then, so Roman's lawyers argue Willis and Wade are financially benefiting from this prosecution, violating ethics rules and even violating federal racketeering laws, which is a bit ironic considering that the RICO racketeering law is what Roman, Trump and others have been charged with at the state level.

KELLY: Indeed.

FOWLER: Separately but relatedly, Nathan Wade's been in these lengthy divorce proceedings where fights over money and similar allegations of infidelity led to documents filed that showed Wade paid for two plane tickets in Fani Willis' name.

KELLY: Fast-forward to what happened, then, in court this afternoon. Willis, as we said, admitted to having a relationship with Wade. But she's insisting there's no wrongdoing and that none of this has any bearing on the Trump case. Tell us more.

FOWLER: Well, Mary Louise, first off, it's important to note this isn't challenging any of the charges against Trump or others or dealing with any of the facts about what happened once he lost Georgia's electoral votes. This is a separate issue. Yes, the filing says there's a personal relationship between the two but not until 2022, after Wade was hired to work on the case. Willis says there's no conflict of interest in the relationship. There is no financial benefit from prosecuting Trump or any other defendant, no violation of racketeering laws. And she pushes back on the legal arguments made to try and dismiss these charges. It's a pretty strongly worded response, accusing the defendants basically of stirring up the pot and trying to attack them in the court of public opinion.

KELLY: Yeah, that's what I want to hear about - the court of public opinion. Setting aside the legal issues, how is all this affecting perception of the case?

FOWLER: Well, it's certainly been further fanning the flames surrounding an already-red-hot case. The original allegations were made January 8, several weeks ago. And the time since then has led to a lot of headlines and speculation filling the gap. I mean, even some of Fani Willis' allies have suggested she step down from the prosecution. It's also led to even more attacks against Willis and the charges by Trump and his allies, which has been part of his playbook in all the other criminal cases he's facing. Trump's lawyers here have joined onto the motion to toss out the charges, and no matter what a judge decides, the admission of a relationship could taint perception of the DA leading this case.

KELLY: Dates to watch - what comes next?

FOWLER: Well, we have this response from Willis. The next thing scheduled is a hearing on the matter February 15. Willis says there's no need for a hearing now that she has this response, and the judge should just deny the requests outright. But if this hearing still happens, we should expect arguments about the relationship's impact and details on the case to be front and center and televised live. The judge could ultimately agree with Willis that we move closer to getting an initial trial date set, or the judge could remove the case to a different district attorney. But one thing is for certain. There will be continued attacks on both the prosecutor and the charges from Trump and other Republican allies until the case is resolved. And case in point, Trump has already posted about it on his Truth Social media platform.

KELLY: NPR's Stephen Fowler reporting from Atlanta. Thank you, Stephen.

FOWLER: Thank you.

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